I am aware that the prior art includes various means for actuating a pair of doors simultaneously, including a variety of mechanical devices for opening and closing them. In some cases the doors slide in their own planes; in others they rotate oppositely on their axes. More pertinent within my knowledge is my copending application Ser. No. 06/078,095, filed Sept. 24, 1979, now abandoned, and prior art that may be cited therein.
My prior invention discloses and claims a pair of doors normally closing a service passage in a cubicle, which doors may be actuated for opening by a human operator behind the cubicle who applies muscular force to a reciprocable plunger that acts through a mechanical system to rotate said doors simultaneously and in opposite axial directions to open position on either side of the passage, where they remain until pressure on the plunger is relieved. Thereupon the doors are automatically returned to closed position.
In commercial use of said prior invention, it sometimes happens that the doors are damaged when open because of their protrusion outwardly beyond the cubicle into the path of a moving vehicle. Otherwise, embodiments of said invention have proven entirely satisfactory in commerce.